STRAWBERRY CREEK WATERSHED: ITS ROLE IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Strawberry Creek arises in a relatively compact watershed in the hills east of the University of California Berkeley campus. The creek flows above ground for a short distance and then goes underground beneath the football stadium where it crosses the Hayward Fault. The creek emerges above ground on campus and flows west through the main campus where students monitor water quality and stream processes. The creek is directed underground west of the campus. It continues west, mostly underground, to flow into San Francisco Bay. Many storm drains empty into the creek, therefore water quality is monitored at several campus sites by undergraduate students in introductory Environmental Science and Environmental Geology classes. Students determine dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, turbidity and temperature. Coliform bacterial counts are made and benthic macroinvertebrates examined. Undergraduates are introduced to features of a watershed through study of topographic and geologic maps and by walking through the creek headwaters to correlate watershed and geologic features seen on the ground with the relevant maps. Students compare and contrast vegetation and macroinvertebrates in creek headwaters with these organisms seen in and along the creek flowing through the campus. Concepts and ecologic features of riparian vegetation and of non-native vs native vegetation are introduced through plant study at many sites in the watershed. Bank erosion and sediment transport and deposition are studied before and after periods of rain. Creek flow energy following rain is seen by inspection of erosion around check dams. Creek water entering the Bay is collected and analyzed. Determinations of nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen and turbidity are made and compared with similar determinations made upstream. Students comment that observations of stream processes enable a more lasting comprehension than reading about these processes and hearing about them in lectures.